Four people suffered minor injuries in a two-vehicle accident which closed a major road in the heart of Colchester on Saturday lunchtime.

A Mini Cooper and a Ford CMax were in collision on the A134 Westway shortly after 1pm. The air ambulance was called and firefighters were needed to release two people who were trapped in one of the vehicles.

Four people were eventually taken to hospital after the accident – and a spokeswoman for Essex Police said it was understood that their injuries were not too serious.

Diversions had to be set up to avoid Westway at the Colne Bank Avenue junction which is one of the major routes into the town centre and this caused some traffic problems on a busy Saturday afternoon.

Police said the road was eventually reopened to traffic at 3.35pm, allowing traffic in the area to start using it again for the rest of Saturday afternoon.